Two Hogs

Our local cattle trucker was just here getting a load of Holstein steers. He told me that last week he stood at a livestock sale in Central Wisconsin, and bought two butcher Hogs. They weighed 265 lbs. apiece. He paid 36 cents a lb. X 265 = $95.40 per Hog. They went into his trailer, and direct to the meat locker. Never even brought 'em home to the farm(Until in white packages, LOL.).
....He felt he could not buy a $35 feeder pig and raise it to 265 lbs. for that kind of money. ................................................................................

but....who knows what those pig had or did'nt have in the way of diseases and improper med management. If they had antibiotics. there may have been residue in the meat. True, you can't raise one for that, but at least you know what you are eating.

I like raising and breeding pigs. I like pigs, so the end product (pork and price) means less to me than the raising. I ended up buying a sow at auction for .35/lb also cause I couldn't find weaned piglets around here. She didn't go right to the butcher. I wanted her to till my garden and turns out she's pregnant. I know price is very important to a lot of people but I think just as many people takepride in raising a piglet to market size and butchering themselves (saving that butcher price tag). There is room for all of us.

Agree that when you raise your own you know just what you are getting, as well as the other benefits of pig ownership - this is why we raise our own.
The cattle trucker even stated that he prefers to buy feeder pigs and raise them himself. I must admit I was shocked that the commercial market price was so low. Does not bode well for small operator raising pigs to sell on commercial market. Better off to put them in your own freezer or sell them direct to the end user at a decent price/pound.

I don't see weanlings at our auction or market weight barrows or gilts. What I do see are predominantly sows which have been used for breeding (like mine) or older boars (for .10/lb) the auction, unless it is a brucellosis and pseudorabies licensed facility, won't attract anything more in price. I still don't know the mechanics of hog raising in TN but I would think there is an outlet for quality-raised pigs that I haven't seen yet.

someone gave me what i think is a poland spotted, can anyone tell me about them?

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If your pig has drooping ears, is either primarily black or primarily white with darker black spots, it may be a Spotted Poland China. They tend to be hardy, longer of body and leaner than Duroc or Hampshire breeds. Usually used to crossbreed in hardiness or to increase litter size. It may very well just be a crossbred offspring with some variety of spotted hog in it's background.